The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

"The Israel Lobby" by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt was one of the most controversial articles in recent memory. Now in a work of major importance, Mearsheimer and Walt deepen and expand their argument and confront recent developments in Lebanon and Iran. They describe the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and argues that this support cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds.

Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis

In Our Endangered Values, Carter offers a personal consideration of "moral values" as they relate to the important issues of the day. He puts forward a passionate defense of separation of church and state, and a strong warning of where the country is heading as the lines between politics and rigid religious fundamentalism are blurred.

The Lemon Tree

In 1967, not long after the Six-Day War, three young Arab men ventured into the town of Ramle, in what is now Jewish Israel. They were cousins, on a pilgrimage to see their childhood homes; their families had been driven out of Palestine nearly 20 years earlier. One cousin had a door slammed in his face, and another found his old house had been converted into a school. But the third, Bashir Al-Khairi, was met at the door by a young woman called Dalia, who invited them in.

Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians (Updated Edition)

From its establishment to the present day, Israel has enjoyed a special position in the American roster of international friends. In Fateful Triangle, Noam Chomsky explores the character and historical development of this special relationship.

My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel

Not since Thomas L. Friedman's groundbreaking From Beirut to Jerusalem has a book captured the essence and the beating heart of the Middle East as keenly and dynamically as My Promised Land. Facing unprecedented internal and external pressures, Israel today is at a moment of existential crisis. Ari Shavit draws on interviews, historical documents, private diaries, and letters, as well as his own family's story, illuminating the pivotal moments of the Zionist century to tell a riveting narrative that is larger than the sum of its parts.

The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine

The journey that Peled traces in this groundbreaking memoir echoed the trajectory taken 40 years earlier by his father, renowned Israeli general Matti Peled. In The General's Son, Miko Peled tells us about growing up in Jerusalem in the heart of the group that ruled the then-young country, Israel. He takes us with him through his service in the country's military and his subsequent global travels...and then, after his niece's killing, back into the heart of Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.

The Palestine-Israel Conflict

The new audiobook edition of this best-selling book gives a thorough and accessible account of the history behind the Palestine-Israeli conflict, its roots, and the possibilities for the future. The audiobook is divided into two parts - the first by an American rabbi and Professor of Judaism, and the second by a Palestinian lecturer on Islam. The result is a real insight into the situation, with each author giving full vent to the emotions behind the two sides of the debate - Cohn-Sherbok and El-Amini come together at the audiobook’s conclusion to debate the issues.

Who Rules the World?

In an incisive, thorough analysis of the current international situation, Noam Chomsky argues that the United States, through its military-first policies and its unstinting devotion to maintaining a world-spanning empire, is both risking catastrophe and wrecking the global commons.

Jen says:"Makes you realize those who scream conspiracy are closer to the truth than we would hope!"

A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power

The world’s discrimination and violence against women and girls is the most serious, pervasive, and ignored violation of basic human rights: This is President Jimmy Carter’s call to action. A Call to Action addresses the suffering inflicted upon women by a false interpretation of carefully selected religious texts and a growing tolerance of violence and warfare. Key verses are often omitted or quoted out of context by male religious leaders to exalt the status of men and exclude women.

Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel

In Goliath, New York Times best-selling author Max Blumenthal takes us on a journey through the badlands and high roads of Israel-Palestine, painting a startling portrait of Israeli society under the siege of increasingly authoritarian politics as the occupation of the Palestinians deepens. Beginning with the national elections carried out during Israel's war on Gaza in 2008/9, which brought into power the country's most right-wing government to date, Blumenthal tells the story of Israel in the wake of the collapse of the Oslo peace process.

Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel

Soon after WWII, U.S. statesman Dean Acheson warned that creating Israel on land already inhabited by Palestinians would "imperil" both American and all Western interests in the region. Despite warnings such as this one, President Truman supported establishing a Jewish state on land primarily inhabited by Muslims and Christians.

I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish---now known simply as the "Gaza doctor"---captured hearts and headlines around the world in the aftermath of horrific tragedy: On January 16, 2009, Israeli shells hit his home in the Gaza Strip, killing three of his daughters and his niece. By turns inspiring and heartbreaking, hopeful and horrifying, I Shall Not Hate is Abuelaish's account of an extraordinary life.

No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

Though it is the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam remains shrouded by ignorance and fear. What is the essence of this ancient faith? Is it a religion of peace or war? How does Allah differ from the God of Jews and Christians? Can an Islamic state be founded on democratic values such as pluralism and human rights? A writer and scholar of comparative religions, Reza Aslan has earned international acclaim for the passion and clarity he has brought to these questions.

Orientalism

This landmark book, first published in 1978, remains one of the most influential books in the Social Sciences, particularly Ethnic Studies and Postcolonialism. Said is best known for describing and critiquing "Orientalism", which he perceived as a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the East. In Orientalism Said claimed a "subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture."

The Essential Chomsky

In a single volume, the seminal writings of the world's leading philosopher, linguist, and critic, published to coincide with his 80th birthday. For the past 40 years Noam Chomsky's writings on politics and language have established him as a preeminent public intellectual and as one of the most original and wide-ranging political and social critics of our time. Among the seminal figures in linguistic theory over the past century, since the 1960s Chomsky has also secured a place as perhaps the leading dissident voice in the United States.

The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin

The epic tale of the rise to power of Russia's current president - the only complete biography in English - that fully captures his emergence from shrouded obscurity and deprivation to become one of the most consequential and complicated leaders in modern history, by the former New York Times Moscow bureau chief.

A History of the Arab Peoples

Despite the turmoil of Arab nationalism and fundamentalism, Middle Eastern wars, and oil crises, the history of the Arab world has been little known and poorly understood in the West. One reason may be that, for more than half a century, there has been no up-to-date single volume work that chronicles the story of Arab civilization - until now.

In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad

Named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most important innovators of the century, Tariq Ramadan is a leading Muslim scholar, with a large following especially among young European and American Muslims. Now, in his first book written for a wide audience, he offers a marvelous biography of the Prophet Muhammad, one that highlights the spiritual and ethical teachings of one of the most influential figures in human history.

The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals That Reshaped the Middle East

This is a book rife with revelations, from the secret communications between the Obama administration and the Iranian government to dispatches from the front lines of the new field of financial warfare. For listeners of Steve Coll's Ghost Wars and Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower, The Iran Wars exposes the hidden history of a conflict most Americans don't even realize is being fought but whose outcome could have far-reaching geopolitical implications.

Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?

It is a widespread belief among liberals that if only Democrats can continue to dominate national elections, if only those awful Republicans are beaten into submission, the country will be on the right course. But this is to fundamentally misunderstand the modern Democratic Party. Drawing on years of research and first-hand reporting, Frank points out that the Democrats have done little to advance traditional liberal goals: expanding opportunity, fighting for social justice, and ensuring that workers get a fair deal.

The Communist Manifesto

‘It was a sweet finish after the bitter pills of floggings and bullets with which these same governments, just at that time, dosed the German working-class risings’. The Communist Manifesto is, perhaps surprisingly, a most engaging and accessible work, containing even the odd shaft of humour in this translation by Samuel Moore for the 1888 English edition.

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

For anyone interested in foreign affairs, this book will catalyze debate, and not only for Mr. Huntington's concluding scenario for World War III. He sees how this could happen if the U.S. mishandles an increasingly xenophobic and truculent China. Chinese assertiveness, Huntington argues, rises out of its felt grievances against a relatively weakening West. After China, the gravest challenge to the West is resurgent Islamic identity.

The Arabs: A History

In this definitive history of the modern Arab world, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on Arab sources and texts to place the Arab experience in its crucial historical context for the first time. Tracing five centuries of Arab history, Rogan reveals that there was an age when the Arabs set the rules for the rest of the world. Today, however, the Arab world's sense of subjection to external powers carries vast consequences for both the region and Westerners who attempt to control it.

Publisher's Summary

Following his #1 New York Times best seller Our Endangered Values, the former president, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, offers an assessment of what must be done to bring permanent peace to Israel, with dignity and justice for Palestine.

President Carter, who was able to negotiate peace between Israel and Egypt, has remained deeply involved in Middle East affairs since leaving the White House. He has stayed in touch with the major players from all sides in the conflict and has made numerous trips to the Holy Land, most recently as an observer of the Palestinian elections in 2005 and 2006.

In this book, President Carter shares his intimate knowledge of the history of the Middle East and his personal experiences with the principal actors, and he addresses sensitive political issues many American officials avoid. Pulling no punches, Carter prescribes steps that must be taken for the two states to share the Holy Land without a system of apartheid or the constant fear of terrorism.

The general parameters of a long-term, two-state agreement are well known, the president writes. There will be no substantive and permanent peace for any peoples in this troubled region as long as Israel is violating key U.N. resolutions, official American policy, and the international "road map" for peace by occupying Arab lands and oppressing the Palestinians.

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is a challenging, provocative, and courageous work.

The book was phenomenal coming from President Carter itself. However, as someone who studies the Arab/Israeli conflict, I would honestly say nothing new came from this book. If you've got little to no background to the topic, definitely look into it - great read for understanding of the conflict.

I am not prone to praising liberals, however President Carter is clearly a man of substance, character and integrity. You do not have to agree with his politics to appreciate the fortitude of the man that tells the truth as he sees it in the face of populist dogma. The man has taken personal risk in sharing a view of the middle east conflict that is just not told in the mainstream US media. President Carter, akin to Thomas Sowell and Thomas Friedman, has the rare ability to boil down the facts and present them in a fair and even handed manner that is understandable to the layman.
My mother always shared with me that it takes two to have an arguement. Yet the popular media in the US typically shows only one side of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. I have always wondered why, given the news that I read and see on TV, so many in Europe take issue with the Israeli government. I know have that understanding.
Just to be clear, the violence against innocents perpetrated by the Palestinians is unacceptable under any circumstances. However, it becomes much more understandable (although unacceptable) as the only tool available to an oppressed, occupied and impotent people.
Now I see more clearly that there is plenty of blame to go around on both sides. Further, there is a glimmer of hope that peace is available if both sides want it bad enough. President Carter makes it clear that the Israeli electorate wants it, but is held captive by the right wing which wields political power in excess of their actual numbers.
As the oppressor and the clear power in the region, it is up to Israel to make the first move and get back to the negotiated Camp David accords. This will not happen until the Israeli majority excises the power of the right wing that is holding their government and, thus, the entire region captive.
If the US people, through our government, put pressure on the Israeli government to honor their commitments, peace could blossom. There is hope.

Carter nailed it. What an amazingly sharp mind, eloquent storyteller, and all-round ethical human being. Anyone disputing him on the topic of Israeli treatment of Palestinians is either deceiver or deceived.

This book is well researched and presented with first hand information. I respect Mr.Carter and his candid report on the situation, never befor a prominent US citizen ever took time to visit the place and get the facts from both sides of the parties. It is sad to see that there were several occasions where both parties came very close to a peaceful agreement, but never honored eachothers words. I am sincerely hoping that this book will initiate a dialogue between the two parties and bring new hope and peace to the region which is very dear to people of all faiths.

It is an idiosyncratic feature of the U.S. that the discussion of the Israel-Palestine conflict has been so ideologically driven. In no other country, including Israel, has the discussion been so one-sided. Litterature on the topic that is considered mainstream abroad has traditionally been given the silence treatment. But, for perhaps the first time, it is not possible ignore an unwanted book on the topic. For this reason, "Palestine: Peace or Apartheid" is an important contribution to the discussion.

This is an excellent book with a great perspective from a man of peace. I do recommend this book to anyone who's interested in US foreign-policy and the Arab Israeli conflict specifically the Israeli Palestinian conflict. I do recommend two other books: the Arabs, which gives an excellent history of the Arabs with lots of details. I also recommend: the Israel lobby and US FOREIGN POLICY.

A well researched informative book for anyone curios about the actual events taking place in Palestine. Nice to hear the account of someone who has actually BEEN there and involved in the negotiations for decades...